Mountain Dew was Invented as Whiskey Mix

About 4000 years ago, Whiskey (or Whisky) was invented to purify perfumes and aromatics. Now, some Whiskey is aged longer than many people were back then.

Soft drinks are a much more recent invention, although perhaps still older than you may think. Soda water was first introduced to the world by Joseph Priestley in 1767 when he published his paper, Impregnating Water with Fixed Air. Yes, that’s the real name of the paper.

Through a series of followup inventions, flavored soda became popular in the late 1800s, starting with lemon and orange varieties. Large soda bottlers and distributors weren’t common back in the 1930s, so the Hartman brothers invented their own whiskey mixer: Mountain Dew. The Hartman brothers sought advice from Coca-Cola about Mountain Dew, but Coke didn’t help. Pepsi was interested, albeit 35 years later, when they bought Mountain Dew.

Not only was Mountain Dew invented for Whiskey, it’s named after it too. The name “Mountain Dew” was a slang term for moonshine and of course moonshine is a slang term for homemade whiskey. It’s called “moonshine” because it was made at night to hide the smoke from the stills during prohibition.

There are many great Whiskeys and maybe even more great Whiskey drinks. The Manhattan (Bourbon), Rusty Nail (Scotch), Old Fashioned (Bourbon) and of course the Whisky Sour are some popular ones.

After repeatedly testing Mountain Dew with Whiskey (for science), I’ve concluded it’s very similar to a Whiskey Sour. Although, I suggest impregnating it with extra lime for a little more punch.

So, theres actually a drink called a vuvuzela (yes after those loud noisemakers).

Mix cold Mt Dew (preferably from a glass bottle and made with real sugar) in about a 3:1 or 4:1 ratio with nearly frozen Lime SoCo. It’ll be really smooth and you’ll barely notice it until it very suddenly hits you.